Todd Publications has announced the release of the 16th edition of its respected Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian.

The Reference Encyclopedia was nominated for the Anisfield Wolfe Award for Race Relations in 1968 and is considered the main source for information on present-day Native Americans. Content: Lists and describes the activities of thousands of American Indian organizations, institutions, government agencies, tribal nations and communities, public schools with Indian education programs, colleges with Native American studies departments; museums, libraries, media, casinos & resorts, book publishers, film/video producers; a 250 page bibliography of over 6,500 books; and a 350 page biographical section containing biographies of more than 2,000 Native Americans and non-Indians active in Indian affairs. Also includes a Canadian section with First Nations, organizations, etc.

The Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Wash., will hold its second annual TL'aneq' Gathering for a Celebration benefit dinner and auction on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, Wash.

NWIC’s goal for the evening is to raise $250,000 in support of the college’s cultural arts and education and to enhance our relations and understanding within the region. Our vision for education at NWIC is based in deeply held beliefs about relationships and stewardship. Tickets to the event are $250.

The event, co-hosted by David and Jonathan Syre (Trillium Corp), will include a pre-event reception, gourmet fare and a live and silent auction of Coast Salish cultural arts and experiences, including a tour of a renowned local master carver’s studio (Felix Solomon, who has artwork displayed at the Whatcom County Museum as well as private collections).

The college is currently seeking table captains, table sponsors, and ticket sales. We are also seeking artists who wish to donate art for the live or silent auction.

The U.S. Regulatory Information Bulletin features a Department of Interior notice relating to the deadline for Indian tribes/consortia to submit completed applications to the Office of Self-Governance (OSG) to begin participation in the tribal self-governance program in fiscal year 2010 or calendar year 2010. Find this and other bulletins at http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/ilb.htm.

The Department of the Interior released a new list of federally recognized tribes on April 4, 2008, titled:"Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs," it has been reported by Nat'l Indian Law Library.

Only tribes who maintain a legal relationship to the U.S. government through binding treaties, acts of Congress, executive orders, etc., are officially "recognized" by the federal government. Once "recognized" a tribe has a legal relationship with the United States. There are currently more than 550 federally recognized tribes in the United States, including some 200 village groups in Alaska. See the Native American Rights Fund web site for more information.

A <i>State of the Indian Nations</i> address given by President Joe Garcia of the National Congress of American Indians has been posted on the organization's web site. Th speech was titled: "Through the Eyes of Our Children: Hope for a Restored Native America" and is the 6th annual address. Read the text at the NCAI site.

The Native American Law Library recently obtained permission to post The Law and Order Code of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming. The Code is one of more than 100 tribal legal documents available at the Library's web site.

A sign of the growing importance of Indian law is that the New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington State Bar Associations have decided to add a question on Indian law on their state bar exams. This article, set out in two parts, and originally published in the Colorado Lawyer, attempts to provide some practical tips for the Indian law researcher. Part I focuses on federal Indian law research. Although hundreds of pages could be written on researching federal Indian law, this article focuses on providing basic tips related to common questions received by the National Indian Law Library (“ NILL” ) and the best sources of information to answer those questions.

(Tour the linked site and its own links for a wealth of leads on Indian law and jurisprudence. -Ed.)

Bill Sheets reports in the Everett (WA) Herald that Tulalip Tribes and the city of Marysville have pledged greater cooperation between the two jurisdictions. Transportation and economic development, in particular, are two subjects in which the tribe and city can work more effectively together, officials said.

The $6.4 million road project is part of a $54.2 million plan to improve traffic flow in a particularly congested part of Snohomish County. Marysville is about 35 miles north of Seattle.

The accord was inspired in part by past development, in which adjacent projects of the tribe or the city were poorly coordinated.

"Indian time" won't cut it any more in Snohomish County, WA, where officials will soon require tribes to respond more quickly to planning requests. The Everett Herald reports:

"A change in a county code that Snohomish County officials say is a 'housekeeping amendment' could be a harbinger of a future shift in the county's policies toward Indian tribes, county planners said. The Snohomish County Council voted last week to create a 30-day deadline for the tribes to respond when archaeological features are found in the course of development when apparent tribal artifacts or gravesites are found. Under the county's old code, the tribes were allowed to take as long as they wished to advise the county when remains or artifacts were found.

County officials assert that the open-ended response time prevents orderly functioning of government. Some tribal officials worry that they won't be able to meet the requirement.

The Sauk Suiattle, Stillaguamish and Tulalip tribes were among those that were party to the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855, which surrendered land that makes up about a fifth of what is now Washington to the federal government. Those tribes are now working together in a legal suit known as the Habitat Claim to assert sovereignty over land and resources they say are integral to their culture.